Michael Witten
Michael is the narrator of the third season of Within the Wires. While working as the Director of North American Trade after the Great Reckoning, he dictates notes to his secretary which are recorded on ten audio tapes. "But this is how the sausage gets made. You want to make a career in public service, you have to grind those organs and push it into intestines. It's disgusting, but in the end, it's just sausage, and people love it." '-- Michael in ''Reel #6: March 24, 1953''' Biography Early Life Michael spent time as a child and/or a teenager in a childcare facility in the early days of the Society, although he claimed he "couldn't remember shit." Meeting Vivienne Michael's first job was at the Textile Distribution Centre in Sioux City, and his boss give him only one rule: "If you receive an order, ship it." Over his time there, he found that this was an incredibly difficult rule to fulfill despite its simplicity. During his adolescence and early adulthood, many people stumbled over Michael's name because he looked and sounded quite feminine, and would often call him "Michelle" by mistake. When he was 20 years old, he worked for a bank in South Sioux City and had a two mile walk to work. He had trouble finding a bike that anybody wanted to sell. One day on his way to work, he saw a woman wearing a denim jacket and a liliac blossom pinned to it. She was struggling with her bike, as the chain had broken, and when asked, she said that it had snapped and thrown her over the handlebars. She introduced herself as Vivienne, and he introduced himself as Michael. Vivienne excused herself, saying her girlfriend was waiting for her up the road. She started to jog away, but Michael called after her, and she waited. Michael became extremely flustered and blushed, which she noticed. After he failed to construct a coherent sentence, she told him he could have the bike and left. Over the next month, Michael fixed the bike using tools borrowed from neighbours and books on bike repair. A year later, Michael was sent out by his boss to order flowers for a client's birthday. He rode his bike to the flower shop, and when he rang the bell on the counter to ask the florist's advice, he discovered it was Vivienne. She didn't recognise him, but he excitedly showed her the work he had done on her old bike, and she suddenly remembered. She mistakenly thought that the refurbished bike was a present for her, and Michael let her keep it, walking back to work having acquired his flowers and a date.Season 3, Reel #4: February 15, 1954 Moving to Missouri Michael went back into the textile business when he moved to St. Louis. He worked under a woman named Patricia Terhune in sales, who was from Tulsa. Michael remembers this time with disdain, as the company had been in the business of convincing struggling businesses to spend money on things they didn't need, and Patricia had been awful to all the workers, including him. On Vivienne's suggestion, Michael kept a journal of his experiences at the workplace, and in particular how Patricia was treating him. He noted a time he was scolded for making a small error in the bookkeeping, and told him to redo the page. Three months later, he was taken off the books despite doing a flawless job, and upon rereading his journal and remembering this some nine months later, compared the torn out original page to what was now in the book. He found that it was not in his handwriting, and some numbers had been changed (small amounts at a time). He then spent several late nights reconciling invoices and put together a file demonstrating that Patricia had defrauded the company of over $3000 in six months, and she was fired and arrested. The charges didn't stick because apparently she had been spiteful and incompetent, but not actively stealing any money. Regardless, Michael got promoted for his keen eye.Season 3, Reel #5: March 2, 1954 Working in Government Michael worked for some years as Head of the Midwest Region, and was incredibly organised and efficient because his secretary, Kevin Prince, was inept. Michael had to double check every file filed, every letter transcribed, and every phone call made. Vivienne was extremely unhappy with this arrangement, as it meant that most nights she had to eat alone. Michael kept Kevin as his secretary for six years. He later supposed he liked to be in control; he also felt he could trust Kevin with personal matters, if not professional ones. It was presumably during this time also that Vishwathi Ramadoss acted as his mentor.Season 3, Reel #7: March 29, 1954 Director of North American Trade When he took over the Office of North American Trade, Michael was tasked with rebuilding the North American trade industry in the aftermath of the Great Reckoning. He was assisted by his new secretary, Amy Castillo, who he said he "couldn't find the door without". Later, in 1954, he was unable to recall how long they had been working together, guessing somewhere between one year and three. At some point, Michael came across Karen Roberts, who he came to dislike immensely. She had testified against his direct superior, Vishwathi Ramadoss, in what he felt was an unfounded and ridiculous investigation into an accusation about domestic surveillance and record-keeping. Michael kept tabs on Karen's activities, including her partial ownership of KR Development Inc, the largest construction company along the Gulf of Mexico. Michael claimed that Ramadoss had information on Roberts which would have ruined her career. Michael also did some work in Vancouver related to this incident.Season 3, Reel #2: August 13, 1953 By the 3rd of July, 1953, Michael had overseen the construction and opening of four childhood centres for the New Society, and had just started a fifth with the designs of Dr Sima Chowdary. Michael asked Sima to look into the activities of Karen Roberts, as he was suspicious of her involvement in the government.Season 3, Reel #1: July 3, 1953 Roberts later moved the entire Western European Labour Department into the Communications Office, and Michael expressed his concern to Ursula Lindholm and Secretary Ramadoss about how the workers were affected by this. He was also worried that she may have still owned part of KR Development, which may or may not have been illegally manufacturing weapons. Michael expressed a desire for an espresso machine in the office, and Amy eventually procured one. They had to haul it up the stairs, and bickered about the best way to get it through the door. It took the rest of the afternoon to set it up, and they each had a shot of hot, disgusting coffee at 5pm, almost on the dot. In July 1953, Michael and Vivienne decided to go ahead with artificial insemination with the assistance of Dr Helena Wood at Mercy Hospital. They would be receiving financial compensation for the treatment from the Society. Michael was in contact with Bernice Jones, the North American Minister for Culture, and she and Miguel (presumably her husband) became good friends to Michael and Vivienne, with similar political views and taste in art. Michael hopes to collaborate with Bernice about artistic initiatives, and works hard to keep art uncensored, even with everyone in the Society so on edge about proper portrayal of their core values. On August 13, 1953, Michael and Vivienne found an injured cat, which they subsequently adopted. They named the cat Constance, and asked Amy to embroider her name on a piece of orange fabric that would act as a bandanna. On November 26, 1953, Michael inquired to Amy about the effects of declawing cats, as there had been some damage to an antique tapestry recovered from Belgium during the Reckoning. He also asked if there was a way to stop hairballs from happening, as although Vivienne loved Constance, she was going to ruin their rug. On 26 November, 1953 Michael began drafting a letter to Sarah Chisholm in the Public Works Department about converting the currently abandoned former government buildings in Washington D.C. into usable facilities. Afterwards he, found the newspapers which had broken the story about the conversion of the buildings already, despite the circle of people knowing about the plans being very small. He then dictated a memo to Reina Bachelor in the PR department, which he later scrapped, and redrafted his letter to Sarah taking into account the fact that the media now had its hands on this project. Michael was accused of both perpetuating nationalist ideas and destroying cultural history. He then apologised to Amy for snapping at her and implicating her in the leak, and asked her to get a feel of how Michael was being received by people outside of the office. He also requested she get Ramadoss on the phone, as he was sure she would be eager to help. Later, he invited Amy into his office for a drink of bourbon.Season 3, Reel #3: November 26, 1953 Michael employed an investigator, Leena Mäkinen, to gather intel on Karen Roberts from the Western European Office, but was not happy with the results. He corresponded with Ramadoss some more regarding the Roberts situation and requested that she look into off-book military budgets, as he believed Roberts was funding an army, and that allegations of this could remove her from her post. He sent an apologetic letter to Bernice Jones, taking the blame for a demonstration that had been organised in protest of a play in London that Michael had greenlit in crafty manipulation of the cultural office. He apologised for his actions and said that he hoped it would not hurt their friendship too much. Apparently the artists had also found recording devices in their hotel rooms.Season 3, Reel #8: April 20, 1954 Scapegoat and Comeback On March 2nd, Michael believed he was being watched and followed by men who smelled of cigarettes and walked an unpleasant dog. Feeling betrayed and paranoid, he sent a letter to Sarah Chisholm asking if she had had any involvement in the acquisition of the Washington D.C. redevelopment project by KR Development. To avoid sounding accusatory, he embedded this question in a more innocuous letter about the progress of Identification Centres in cities. On March 24, he got drunk in his office off four bottles of wine that he had supposedly bought Amy for her birthday. He worried about this, becoming sure that he was terrible at giving gifts, also citing his gifts of flowers to Vivienne, which didn't seem to make her happy any more. He proposed that she couldn't smell them after so many years of smoking (a habit of hers which he disliked, and had been medically advised against). He was drinking because he was afraid to leave his office due to the suspicious men and their unpleasant dog that were watching his window. Michael told Amy that he and Vivienne were being followed. They had both noticed men in suits and hats, often with unpleasant dogs, standing in corners of markets not buying anything, seated in corners of restaurants not ordering anything, or riding buses without ever getting off. The previous night, relieved at the lack of conspicuous men tailing them, they had come home from a gallery opening and found the front door unlocked. Fearful of an intruder, they took knives from the kitchen and scoured the house, but found no intruder, nor anything missing - except Constance. Around 11pm, Constance reappeared, scratching at the front door, with her left ear cut away. Michael observed that it was a straight cut, like one from a razor or a pair of scissors. Believing this was a message from the men in suits on behalf of Karen Roberts, Michael went through his home office and found Leena Mäkinen's European ID card cut in half. At 3am, he called the Oslo office to check in with Leena, but panicked and hung up when the secretary asked him to confirm his hastily-made alias. The next day, he called Ramadoss and requested that she come to Chicago as soon as possible. He told Amy that if he was not in the office when she got there the next morning, she should check that he wasn't at home, and if not, call Ramadoss immediately. The next time Michael looked through the blinds, the men in suits had gone, which made him panic even more. He amended his previous instruction and told her to call Vishwathi immediately if he wasn't there when she arrived. He wished he could trust Amy, although he said that it was his own fault that he didn't, because he didn't spend enough time with her to know her. He said she deserved a raise. While blasting jazz music, he became convinced he was hearing noises, and opened another bottle of wine, consoling himself that at least he was really drunk.Season 3, Reel #6: March 24, 1954 When Michael next came into work on the 29th, he had calmed down significantly, and almost completely convinced himself that he was not being followed. He reasoned away his behaviour and apologised, before composing a letter to Ramadoss, who Amy claimed she could not get on the phone. Later in the day, he attended a conference where he met Ramadoss and she informed him that she had no intention of backing his plans in Washington, and was actually responsible for authorising Roberts' involvement in the project. Enraged, Michael accused her, Amy, and Karen Roberts of conspiring against him. When Amy returned to the office, she left a box containing the missing Vancouver files. He was happy to see them, thinking that he could finally resolve the matter with the journalists who where still calling, but found that the documents were not as innocent as he had once believed. In place of Ramadoss', his signature was present on letters indicating that he had offered and taken bribes. In amongst the letters, there were payments authorised for surveillance of merchants’ homes in Victoria, and authorisation for the use of physical intimidation of business owners who did not work well with Ramadoss. The intimidation tactic that caught Michael's attention was the injury of pets "in a way that lets them know they’re being watched." Understanding that he was being scapegoated and had no way to refute this evidence, Michael resigned himself to losing his job. He drafted an angry letter to Ramadoss, and then Roberts, although he didn't believe that Amy would send either one given her apparent allegiance. He was at a loss for what to do or who to ask for help, and wondered at how he was going to tell Vivienne that he had lost his job. In fact, Michael did not lose his job immediately. He stayed in the office for another month, although he had apparently been "demoted" to a position that was undisclosed to him while Ramadoss figured out how to deal with him. Amy stayed on as his secretary, and he begrudgingly decided to trust her as he believed it was the only thing he could do. Meanwhile, his house was broken into two more times, as well as his office. Holes were cut in the left breasts of Vivienne's dresses, which was perceived as a threat and resulted in her moving out of the house. Michael gave her cash and told her to get several different cabs to a hotel, and also to wear a wig and carry a knife. Michael would not let her take Connie, as he believed it would give her away too much. He considered sending her out of Chicago for her stay in a maternity centre for the remainder of her pregnancy, possibly south closer to Bernice and Miguel. He did not consult Vivienne about this, as he had not contacted her since she left out of fear for giving away her location. On April 20, he wrote a letter to Bernice asking if she knew whether Léonie Sirois had had any direct involvement in the management of the Cultural Office. He believed that Sirois was an employee of Karen Roberts, and wished to find a connection between her and his own situation. He also composed a message to Sima Choudary, attempting to assign her to the New Conversion Project in Chicago and secure his own legacy before the tribunal he would inevitably face. In August, 1954, Michael returned home after taking Vivi to the Pregnancy Centre and found that his home office had been tampered with. Nothing was missing, but when he tried to close the cupboard he noticed that a box was blocking the door, and found that the missing Vancouver files were inside it, as if they had fallen from the top shelf. He called his lawyer and the files where handed over to the bailiffs, promptly clearing his name of the most severe charges against him. He was fined for the storage of classified documents in his home, and nothing more. He was allowed to visit the Pregnancy Centre to tell Vivi, and he sobbed. In September, Vivienne gave birth to her baby, and Michael later commented that it was hard not to get attached to her after all the time Vivi was pregnant with her. They were not allowed to name the baby, but the representative from the Childhood Development Centre liked Michael's suggestion of 'Nell.' He hoped Nell would end up somewhere beautiful like Goa, Wellington, or Portland Days before bailiffs arrived to collect "evidence" (including the espresso machine, the stationary in his desk, and a personal photograph), Michael returned to the office late one night to fetch his hat, which he had forgotten. He saw Amy holding scissors and scotch tape, next to a trash bag and a pile of dictaphone reels. He did not confront her about what she was editing. On September 13, Michael prepared to move out to an office in Toronto.Season 3, Reel #9: September 13, 1954 Chief Policy Administrator When Michael arrived at his job at the Society Governance Centre in Toronto, he got a new secretary, named Timothy Dow, after Amy departed to a Childhood Development Centre in Balitmore. He made an effort to get to know Timothy and invited him over to dinner regularly. In 1958, Vivienne had a second child. She and Michael had to spend six months with hardly any contact, because she had been diagnosed with a mild heart condition and kept her more isolated while they treated it. Michael could tell that the baby girl she gave birth to was more difficult to let go of than Nell. Even three years later, he still sometimes overheard her making calls to government offices trying to track her daughter down, and he supposed the rules of her contract simply didn't matter to her. Also in 1958, Vishwathi Ramadoss was finally brought to trial. However, Michael was dissatisfied with the result, claiming that the punishment didn't even amount to a slap on the wrist. When she was returned to her post as Secretary of Trade, Michael feared for his and Vivienne's safety and hired a security detail. In 1959, Ramadoss gave a speech congratulating Sima Chowdary and Sarah Chisholm for their work on the Washington project, and even singled out Michael as the visionary behind the project. He had been reading quietly in the crowd, but she gestured for him to stand with apparently genuine pride and gratitude, and he felt deeply unsettled as he was applauded. Closer to 1961, Michael received a copy of a proposal for the Washington buildings that Amy had put together from her position as Director of New Educational Initiatives. He had been excited to read it, but was horrified by the proposal instead, as it was an early draft of plans for the Institute, which went strongly against his values and the values he believed the Society to have. He did not forward the plans to the review committee, instead writing his own notes and sending them back. He received no response, and later heard that Amy was moving to the private sector. In June of 1961, Vivienne and Michael received a painting that Bernice had commissioned. Michael loved the painting, saying it captured Vivi perfectly and showed she and Connie so safe and happy. He asked Timothy to hang the painting above his desk in the office. On the morning of June 21, 1961, Michael thought of Amy as he had his espresso, and read in the business section of the newspaper that KR Development had purchased a 150,000 acre plot near Chesapeake Bay. At work, had Timothy transcribe a letter to Amy. He updated her about his life, but the true purpose of the letter was to ask her to reconsider her position on the Institute project. He asked her to consider sending a revised version of her plan to the Governance Centre, instead of working for the private corporation (likely KR Development) that seemed receptive to her goals. He believed they could "refocus" the project into a more helpful rehabilitation initiative, rather than a medical prison that punished people for having emotions.Season 3, Reel #10: June 21, 1961 The current state of the Institute in the 80s indicates that she was not persuaded. Additional info * The name "Michael" comes from the archangel Michael in the Bible (Mikha'el in the Torah) and means "Who is like God?" * Michael is transgender.Janina Matthewson on Twitter: "Michael Witten is trans. No questions, thanks." * Michael does not understand jazz or DNA. He seems to think the two belong in the same category of "things my wife thinks I should know about" * There is irony in Michael's wish that no child will ever spend any time in the Institute, as his wife's second child was incarcerated there during the events of season 1. References Category:Main Characters Category:Government employees Category:Narrators